The typhoon caused widespread damage to property
At least 32 people have been killed and more than 100 are missing after a typhoon hit Taiwan.
Typhoon Toraji brought winds of 150km/h (93 mph) and heavy rain, which triggered what local media are describing as the worst mudslides and floods in 50 years.
Many of the victims were in the eastern coastal county of Hualien, where the typhoon touched down in the early hours of Monday.
One mudslide buried houses in two villages, killing at least a dozen people. A police patrol car was swept away by the same mudslide, and the two officers inside were killed.
Taiwan's National Fire Administration said hundreds of homes had been destroyed and thousands acres of farmland were under water.
In the central county of Nantou, which is still struggling to recover after a huge earthquake two years ago, rice fields and banana groves were flooded. Landslides cut mountain roads and bridges were washed away.
The typhoon - named after a flower - also caused power blackouts in thousands of homes and seriously disrupted the island's land, sea and air traffic.
Six cities and counties in northern Taiwan, including the capital Taipei, announced the closure of local government offices and schools as a precaution against the typhoon.
The country's banks, stock market and foreign exchange market remained closed.
Fishing boats from mainland China took refuge in ports, but officials would not allow the crews to leave their boats in case they tried to enter the country illegally.
Five similar storms have hit Taiwan this year. The most powerful, Utor, killed more than 150 people throughout east Asia last month.
The eye of Toraji, which was downgraded to a tropical storm later on Monday, has left Taiwan and is reported to be heading towards China.
An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter
scale also struck Hualien county on Monday
morning, but there were no reports of
casualties or damage.
-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001